Puerto Vallarta Drill Drew More Than 3,000 Participants
The Second National Drill 2026 took place on Saturday, September 19, in Puerto Vallarta as part of National Civil Protection Day. The alarm sounded at 12:00, and the exercise was organized by the Municipal Government through the Civil Protection and Fire Department. More than 3,000 people participated in Puerto Vallarta, including residents and tourists. More than 2,000 participants came from commercial establishments, hotels, and public institutions.
The preventive operation covered hotels, hospitals, and the Maritime Terminal, with the National Guard, the Mexican Army, the Navy Secretariat, and State Civil Protection coordinating alongside Civil Protection. Locals, workers, and tourists evacuated 17 registered buildings and unregistered establishments. Municipal Civil Protection records formally registered 17 venues, where evacuation maneuvers were carried out. The operation was a preventive exercise intended to measure the effectiveness of emergency brigades and strengthen response capacity in the face of risk scenarios.
In Bahía de Banderas, Palma Real in San Vicente hosted the drill at noon, with around 150 residents participating. The residential setting was selected so residents could take part directly in prevention actions. Internal brigades coordinated the evacuation of residents from the residential area at the rear of the complex after the alarm was activated, and it took 58 seconds to evacuate the building and gather residents at the meeting point in the roundabout.
The exercise used the national scenario of a magnitude-7.7 earthquake, with the simulated epicenter located 15 kilometers south-southwest of Tehuacán, Puebla, at a depth of 67 kilometers. The drill also included a simulated fire caused by a gas leak. Four internal brigades took part: paramedics, evacuation, firefighting, and search and rescue.
Around 150 residents tested evacuation, injured-person care, firefighting, and coordination protocols with emergency services. Three people were treated as injured and transported by stretcher to a safe area, while the scenario simulated transporting an injured person to IMSS Hospital de Zona 33 in Altavela. Ambulances, a fire-suppression tanker, and rescue units from Protección Civil y Bomberos de Bahía de Banderas attended. The response time from the Bucerías base to Palma Real was 10 minutes and 16 seconds.
The drill was held in memory of the victims of the 1985 and 2017 earthquakes. The stated objective was to improve response capacity in the event of a real emergency. José Santos Salas, the interim head of the agency, said the exercise strengthened citizens’ preparedness for an emergency. The exercise will not cause disruptions. Evacuations and response exercises also took place simultaneously at different locations in Bahía de Banderas.